EPISTEPHIUM — ERIOPSIS. 323 



EpISTEPHIUM, Ku7lt7i. 



{Tribe NeottieEe, suhtribe VanilleEe.) 



A genus of terrestrial Orchids allied to Sohralia, from 

 which it differs by the sepals being free, and surrounded at 

 the base by a shallow-toothed calyculate rim, those of Sohralia 

 being connate, and having no rim at the summit of the ovary. 

 They are erect-growing, with rigid coriaceous nervose leaves, 

 and showy flowers in terminal racemes. Some half-dozen 

 species from Tropical South America are known to botanists. 



Culture. — Being a terrestrial species, the crowns should 

 not be elevated above the rim of the pot. They succeed best 

 when potted in fibrous loam and sand, and must have good 

 drainage as they require a liberal supply of water ; they will 

 do well in the Cattleya house. 



E. Williamsii, Hook. fil. — This beautiful and remarkable 

 plant is so nearly allied to the Sohralias, that it was intro- 

 duced under the name of S. sessilis. Its root consists of a 

 tuft of fleshy underground fibres, and it grows upwards of 

 a foot high. The stems are erect, a foot to a foot and a half 

 high, with semiamplexicaul leaves, very dark green and 

 shining in the upper part, those on the lower part of the stem 

 diminished. The flowers are large, six or eight on a terminal 

 spike, of a bright mauve, the linear- oblong sepals, the broader 

 oblong petals, and the front margin of the lip wholly mauve 

 colour, the roundish terminal lobe of the deeply bifid lip with 

 a broad white space near the base, surrounded by a band of 

 deep reddish purple, the disk bearing a small crest of long 

 yellow hairs. — Bahia. 



'PlG.—Bot. Mag., t. 5485; Baiem. 2nd Century Orch. PL, t. 103. 



EeiOPSIS, Lindley. 



{Tribe Vandese, subtribe Cyrtopodiese.) 



A small genus of epiphytal Orchids, with pseudobulbous 

 stems, long plicately venose leaves, and racemose flowers 



